Katherine Miller (Trientje)

• Death Notes
  • Abbie Zimmerman’s obituary refers to Abbie’s mother as “Katherine Miller,” and Katherine’s brothers Eilert and Albert are listed as “Miller” on the 1880 census for Gage County, Nebraska. The Web site below gives Katherine’s Americanized name as “Katherina Mueller” and her birth name as “Trientje Rossmueller.” Katherine’s tombstone gives her date of birth as 6 January. Perhaps 13 January is the date of her baptism.
    
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    I copied this from the following Web site on 22 Nov 2003:
    
    http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~maryross/ships/othyen18541108.html
    
    Ship name: O Thyen
    Port of departure: Bremen, Germany
    Port of arrival: New Orleans, Lousiana
    Date of arrival: 8 November 1854
    Source: National Archives and Records Administration, Film M259, Reel 40, List 342.
    
    252 Eilert Rossmüller 52 Male Farmer
    253 Eilers Rossmüller 16 Male his Son
    254 Meta Rossmüller 14 female his daughter
    255 Trentje Russmöller 12 female his daughter
    256 Albert Russmöller 7 Male his Son
    
    Rossmu(e)ller Family (Passengers 252-256 Second Cabin) - written
    and contributed by Diana Church
    
    Eilert Eylers Rossmueller originated from Vossbarg, Ostfriesland,
    Germany. His wife, Abbe Janssen Goosmann died in childbirth in
    August 1851; he later migrated to Illinois with his children (see
    O.Thyen list, Second Cabin passengers 252-256). According to family
    tradition, the father Eilert died shortly after arrival, near
    Lebanon, St. Clair County, Illinois however I have not been able to
    confirm this information; and I do not know where the four children,
    ages 7 through 16, lived after his death. By 1860, his daughter
    Trentje Rossmueller is living in Petersburg, Menard County,
    Illinois, and working as a helper for a saddlemaker, no known
    relationship. At Petersburg, in January 1861, Trientje married Tamme
    Renken Zimmermann, also an orphan, who migrated in 1856 (?) from the
    neighboring village of Fiebing, Ostfriesland, Germany. They both
    "americanized" their names, using the names of Thomas R. Zimmerman
    and Katherina Mueller.
    
    In the spring of 1861, Tamme and Trienjte Zimmermann left
    Petersburg, likely stopping to see friends at the Ostfriesen
    settlements in Adams County, Illinois, and Rockport, Atchison
    County, Missouri; in May 1861 Tamme bought 160 acres of land in
    Richardson County, Nebraska, just south of the Ostfriesen community
    at Febing, Nemaha County, Nebraska. In June 1862, they left
    Richardson County and moved further west to become the first
    Ostfriesen settlers and founders of the Bear Creek settlement in
    Gage County, Nebraska where Tamme became a cattle driver (longhorns
    from Texas) and very successful landowner. Remaining in Gage
    County, Nebraska for the remainder of their lives, Trientje died in
    1910 and Tamme died in 1925. Tamme and Trientje Zimmerman are my
    gg-grandparents. Although I now live in Texas, most of their
    descendants still remain in this community and much of the land
    which Tamme originally purchased continues to be held by descendants
    or relatives.
    
    I do not have much information about Trientje's brother Eilert, who
    was also a founder of the Zion Ev. Lutheran Church at Bear Creek
    (1874). Her brother Albert Eilers Rossmueller married Gesche
    Juergens Eilers (aka Rachel Jurgens) at Summerfield, Illinois in
    1869 and by 1872 they had also moved to the Bear Creek settlement;
    this couple held the organizational meeting for Zion Ev. Lutheran
    Church in their dugout in March 1874. (I do not know Rachel's
    parents, siblings or location of origin in Germany). The older
    sister, Meta Rossmueller, also remains a mystery; I suspect that she
    probably remained in Illinois but have not found any confirming
    information and do not know her married name.
    
    The story of this Gage County Nebraska settlement, locally known as
    the "Hannover" community, is the focus of my newsletter, The
    Hannover Chronicle, which is published semi-annually. Most of
    these families first lived in the South Prairie community of Adams
    County, Illinois, prior to moving to Nebraska during the 1870s. The
    latest issue, vol. 3 no 1, identifies the first deed records, sod
    dugouts and log cabins of these early Ostfriesen settlers.
    
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Katherine's family